


Better Man

by asparasa



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: AU, Cocaine, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Past Drug Use, Promise, asshole leo, but he makes it better, escort!kurapika, leopika - Freeform, musician!leorio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4536621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asparasa/pseuds/asparasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'He makes me smile, he thinks the way I think. That boy makes me want to be better.’ Leorio’s grainy voice travelling into the blond’s soul, his eyes never leaving the Kurapika’s.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Man

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic! Hope you guys enjoy it. 
> 
> Just to save confusion any writing just in italics is a flashback/ memory, any writing with quotation marks and italics is singing. :)
> 
> Also here is a link to the playlist for this fic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0_Gw1Bcpb8&list=PL_ASTLedM6fjswViX1S_ub4Y33Di_441v
> 
> My tumblr is boneee-y.tumblr.com

There’s a difference between aged and old. Well, that was what Kurapika’s mother had always taught him. She’d say ‘old is where you forget, where you’ve reached a certain level of contentment with the life you’ve lived, where your age is so great you don’t care anymore. Aging is where life just forces things on you until you become jaded. Never let the world age you, ‘Pika’ and as for the man walking on stage, he looked far from content with the cards life had dealt him. Why else would he be playing a guitar which looked as dog-tired as him in this part of town? Although the blonde himself didn’t particularly want to be there, but the agreement he had with the owner meant he could work as he pleased. The blond struggled to make out the artist’s face, only the dim light of his cigarette and his tall slender body hunched over his gear. A fat man in a worn out suit lumbered on the stage after him followed by the gentle swing of the house band. The lights focusing on him as the young man prepared for his set.

‘Now, have we got a treat for y’all tonight, I’d like to introduce an old regular of ours to the line up.’ The old compère huffed as the bass picked up.

‘Coming straight from the bustlin’ streets of New York, hot of the press if ya' know what I mean,’ He nudged the younger man, winking into the crowd getting raucous laughter. It was hard for Kurapika to watch as the compère ripped into the young man. It always made him sad seeing them play for tips, not as if he could really comment. The tall young man sat himself into the chair in the centre of the stage, allowing his guitar to reverb over the mellow melody of the band behind him, as the spotlight honed onto him.

‘Leorio...’ Kurapika whispered alongside the panting compère. _You need to stop this, you’re ruining yourself_.  Looking away from the stage, Kurapika pretended to be searching for possible patreons.  _That comin’ from a glorified whore. I don’t have to deal with your shit._ Flicking his cigarette onto the floor, he began to sing.

‘ _She can kill with her smile, she can wound with her eyes. She can ruin your faith with her casual lies and she only reveals what she wants you to see. She hides like a child but she’s always a woman to me._ ’ The growl in Leorio’s voice echoed through the bar.

 _‘And she’ll promise you more than the garden of eden and she’ll carelessly cut you and laugh while you’re bleeding. But she’ll bring out the best and the worst you can be. Blame it all on yourself ‘cos she’s always a woman to me.’_ The song continued, moving swiftly through a couple of solos before drawing to a close causing a cry of approval from the crowd.

With the second song, the blond’s stomach dropped. _Wow, really, the white stuff. What is wrong with you?_

 _‘Been walking round 10th Street and Main, I've been looking for a girlie to give me cocaine. Cocaine's sure running round my brain.’_ Leorio’s face became distant as if the song was leaving him of its own accord. _Leo, leo baby, you need to get up now. Come on baby, open your eyes for me. Please, you’re scaring me. HOW MUCH DID YOU LET HIM TAKE?_

The blond couldn’t help but look up at the start of the next track. It was busy tonight, full to the brim with swaying bodies allowing Leorio’s voice to move through them, the way Kurapika used to let it move through him. _Ya' know, you’re always the one I’m singin’ to, like a muse or somthin’_. The brunet’s eyes stayed fixated on the back wall until the second verse. His charcoal eyes flickering up as they bore into Kurapika’s.

 _‘Not saying it was your fault, although you should’ve done more. You’re so naive yet so… Such an ugly thing for someone so beautiful.’ Leorio’s voice cracking, ‘I die everytime you’re on his side_ ’.  His anger pushing into the blond and as quickly as his eyes found him, they left. Leaving Kurapika alone. _No, no don’t. Don’t leave me. Please Leo, baby, come back. I’m sorry... I didn’t mean it. COME BACK._

The chink of glasses brought the blond back into the room.The barman had placed a martini in front of him.

‘From the fellow in the corner, with the fur collar. Told me to tell you ‘Cheers sunshine’.’ Welcoming the distraction, Kurapika looked for the man in question. Making eye contact with a dark haired young man, who raised his glass to Kurapika and he winked him. The blond reciprocated, raising his glass with a coy smile. _You always have to do it front of me don’t you. Rub it in my face. You fuckin’ love it dont’cha, all that fucking attention._

 _‘Cheers darlin’, here’s to you and your lover boy.’_ His husky words flowed over his lips slurring themselves together. _‘Cheers darlin’, I’ve got years to wait around for you.’ You know what I don’t care what poison you shove in your body anymore._ He didn’t sound angry anymore.  _Yeah, well I don’t care who you shove in your body anymore._ His notes melancholy, regretful. Kurapika couldn’t listen, his heart in his mouth, brain overfilled with apologies he never aired. Thankful when the song finally came to a close.

The audience ate up every word. Looking up, Leorio cleared his throat his eyes catching Kurapika’s. Softer now.

‘I hope y’all are havin’ a good night. I’ve never really been good at this banter malarkey, but it’s good to see some old faces. Looks like y’all never change and I’m sure you’ve heard this tune a thousand times. This is for the old days.’ The brunet’s baritone voice resonated through the crowd. ‘Here’s to the good times, eh?’ However his comments where only meant for one pair of ears.

 _‘He makes me smile, he thinks the way I think. That boy makes me want to be better.’_ Leorio’s grainy voice travelling into the blond’s soul, his eyes never leaving the Kurapika’s. Tears threatened his blue depths, pricking at the sides of his eyes. _I’ll change for you ‘Pika, I’ll stop. But you’ve got to stop hurting yourself like this, I’ll support ya’. Just don’t, don’t do this to yourself anymore. Look at what they did to you. What if I hadn’t been there? Oh god ‘Pika. I couldn’t lose you.. Not you, not again._

 _‘You know I might get eager, I might loose my cool. Feel like I’m in detention at the office at the school_ ’ Leorio’s voice broke, his eyes shifting from Kurapika’s. The muscles in his jaw contracting as he ground his teeth. The blond’s hand finding its way to his face as he covered a choked sob.

_‘But the reflection in his eyes gonna look so much better, I said that boy makes me want to be a better man.’_

  
  
‘I’m a better man...’ Leorio’s voice whispered into the mic.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think. :)


End file.
